Paper 2503

Abstract

This paper explores how Catalan-Spanish bilinguals in Majorca project identities through language performance by examining the occurrence of morphemic reduction in the written productions of 35 Majorcan Catalan speakers. The results indicate that many bilinguals represent the MC morphemic reduction in first person singular present indicative verbs, which is present in the spoken language, in writing as well. This is a significant finding since such reduction is absent from the written input they receive. A multivariate analysis of the data indicates that morphemic reduction (typical in oral Majorcan Catalan) or maintenance of -o (present in Standard Catalan) correlates with individual factors including gender, language dominance, level and language of education, and the speaker's identification with Majorcan cultural and linguistic autonomy. The variation with which MC verbal morphology is represented in written production demonstrates Majorcan bilinguals' language attitudes toward the MC vernacular and the standard variety.